poor

poor
poor (adj.) c.1200, from O.Fr. poure (Fr. pauvre), from L. pauper "poor," perhaps a compound of paucus "little" and parare "to get." Replaced O.E. earm. The poor boy sandwich, made of simple but filling ingredients, was invented and named in New Orleans in 1921. To poor mouth "deny one's advantages" is from 1965 (to make a poor mouth "whine" is Scottish dialect from 1822). Slang poor man's ________ "the cheaper alternative to _______," is from 1854.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • poor — W1S1 [po: US pur] adj comparative poorer superlative poorest ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(no money)¦ 2¦(not good)¦ 3¦(sympathy)¦ 4¦(not good at something)¦ 5¦(health)¦ 6 poor in something 7 a poor second/third etc …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Poor — Poor, a. [Compar. {Poorer} (?; 254); superl. {Poorest}.] [OE. poure or povre, OF. povre, F. pauvre, L. pauper; the first syllable of which is probably akin to paucus few (see {Paucity}, {Few}), and the second to parare to prepare, procure. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • poor — [ pur ] adjective *** ▸ 1 lacking money ▸ 2 of low quality ▸ 3 not good enough ▸ 4 not skillful ▸ 5 lacking something important ▸ 6 less than expected ▸ 7 feeling sorry for someone ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) having little money and few possessions: a poor… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • poor — [poor] adj. [ME pore < OFr povre < L pauper, poor < IE base * pōu , small > FEW, FOAL] 1. a) lacking material possessions; having little or no means to support oneself; needy; impoverished b) indicating or characterized by poverty 2.… …   English World dictionary

  • Poor — is an adjective related to a state of poverty, low quality or pity.People with the surname Poor: * Charles Henry Poor, a US Navy officer * Charles Lane Poor, an astronomer * Edward Erie Poor, a vice president of the National Park Bank * Enoch… …   Wikipedia

  • poor — UK US /pɔːr/ US  /pʊr/ adjective ► having little money and/or few possessions: »It s offering to pay off 10 percent of the poor countries debt. »He came from a poor immigrant family. ► not good or operating well, or of a low quality or standard:… …   Financial and business terms

  • poor — ► ADJECTIVE 1) lacking sufficient money to live at a comfortable or normal standard. 2) of a low or inferior standard or quality. 3) (poor in) lacking in. 4) deserving pity or sympathy. ● the poor man s Cf. ↑the poor man s …   English terms dictionary

  • poor — adj 1 Poor, indigent, needy, destitute, penniless, impecunious, poverty stricken, necessitous are comparable when they mean having less money or fewer possessions than are required to support a full life. Poor describes a person, a people, or an… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • poor — [adj1] lacking sufficient money bad off*, bankrupt, beggared, beggarly, behind eight ball*, broke*, destitute, dirt poor*, down andout*, empty handed*, flat*, flat broke*, fortuneless, hard up*, impecunious, impoverished, indigent, in need,… …   New thesaurus

  • Poor — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Enoch Poor (1736–1780), Schiffbauer und Händler aus Exeter, Brigadegeneral der Kontinentalarmee im Amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg. Salem Poor (* 1758), afroamerikanischer Soldat, der für seine… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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